King Louie

Conception and creation

Although the Disney adaptation is based on the Kipling stories, the character King Louie does not appear in Rudyard Kipling's original book, as orangutans, the species as which he is portrayed, are not native to India in real life. It is also stated by Kipling in the original that the Bandar-log, or monkeys over which King Louie rules, have no effective leadership, let alone a king. In the book, Mowgli is abducted by a band of nameless and leaderless bandar-log monkeys, but the rest of the scene plays out very differently from Disney's version.

Bill Peet's original story for the film did not feature King Louie, but did feature a larger monkey without a tail, who was perhaps meant to be their king. Peet left the Disney company due to a dispute he had with Walt Disney regarding the contents of his script, so his ultimate vision for the king of the Bandar-log remains unknown. Development of the story continued following Peet's departure, with his darker story giving way to a new emphasis on lightheartedness and jazzy tunes. It was in this company milieu that King Louie eventually came into being, given life through the voice and personality of popular performer Louis Prima. Personality was also given to Louie by Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and John Lounsbery, three of Disney's Nine Old Men who animated the character. Kahl animated Louie's interaction with Mowgli, Thomas his solo song and dance portions, while Lounsbery animated his memorable scat duet with a disguised Baloo.

Other appearances

Famed Italian-American and New Orleans native Louis Prima portrayed King Louie in the film. Louis Prima considered playing King Louie as one of the highlights of his career and felt he had become "immortal" thanks to Walt Disney and the entire studio.

TaleSpin

In the Disney animated television series TaleSpin, Louie (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a fun-loving orangutan who wears a Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat, and a lei. He owns an island nightclub, restaurant and hotel called "Louie's Place", located near but outside the protection of the city of Cape Suzette. It also serves as a refueling station/pit stop area for pilots. Louie is Baloo's best friend (unlike in The Jungle Book, but like in the later Jungle Cubs) but sometimes can be competitive with him when it comes to women, treasure-hunting and, on occasion, in business and monetary matters. His hold on the island is somewhat tenuous, though through his own ingenuity and the aid of his friends he has managed to avoid losing it (in the episode "Louie's Last Stand").

Jungle Cubs

In the Disney animated television series Jungle Cubs, Louie (voiced by Jason Marsden in Season 1, and Cree Summer in Season 2) is a juvenile orangutan and Baloo's best friend. He is very physically active, spending a great deal of his time in trees and eating bananas. Prince Louie (as he is referred to in the show) wants to become king of the jungle one day, and when any man-made objects turn up he immediately shows great interest.

1994 live-action film

A slightly different version of the character appeared in Disney's 1994 live-action film. Once again he is an orangutan, and the 'leader' of a group of monkeys that make their home in an abandoned human city. His name arises in this version from the vast wealth that humans left behind in the city, and in particular to his habit of wearing a crown similar in appearance to that worn by the King of France, Louis XIV. Kaa appeared to serve him, being summoned with a clap of his hands, Louie using Kaa to ward off or even kill intruders, the latter for his own amusement. At first, he acts a rival to Mowgli, but later warms up to him after seeing him defeat Kaa. Louie would later on appear during the battle between Mowgli and Captain William Boone (Cary Elwes), as he is seen cheering for Mowgli. After Mowgli defeats Boone, Louie happily applauds Mowgli for a job well done before summoning Kaa, who then kills Boone in the moat.

2016 live-action film

Christopher Walken voiced King Louie in Disney's 2016 live-action film. He is portrayed as a Gigantopithecus, an extinct species of great ape, because orangutans themselves are not native to India. In the trailer, Louie is seen ferociously chasing Mowgli as the man cub attempts to escape from his temple. In an Interview regarding the character, Christopher Walken described King Louie as standing around 12 feet tall, and "as charming as he is intimidating when he wants to be". In the film, Louie offers Mowgli protection from Shere Khan in exchange for the secret of making fire, which he and his fellow Bandar Log plan to use to take over the jungle. While accommodating and friendly at first, Louie quickly becomes spiteful and impatient, refusing to believe Mowgli's protests that he does not know how to make fire. He is briefly distracted by the appearance of Baloo, allowing Mowgli to be rescued by Bagheera. However, they are spotted by one of Louie's pig-tailed macaque servants, and Louie orders the trio to be captured. Emerging from the temple, Louie finds his Bandar Log too preoccupied fighting Bagheera and Baloo to capture Mowgli, so he goes after the man cub himself. Blocking Mowgli's escape, he tries to coerce him into staying whilst antagonizing him with the revelation of Akela's death. Mowgli refuses to stay, infuriating Louie into chasing him through the temple. During his tantrum, he destroys several of the pillars supporting the temple, causing it to collapse over him. During the credits, Louie is shown emerging from the rubble, and performs "I Wan'na Be like You".

Other Disney media

Non-Disney works

King Louie appears in the Fables comic series published by Vertigo Comics and he is only referred to as King. He is one of the revolutionaries who wish to overthrow the Fabletown government out of resentment at the apparent second-class status of Fables. Due to his peripheral involvement, he is given a sentence of hard labor---twenty years, reduced to five years conditional on good behavior.

In Fables, Louie is wrongly described as a "Kipling" character; on his official forums, Fables author Bill Willingham cited Louie's appearance in Fables as "a very good example on why it's best to go back to the source material before one embarks on a major story, rather than rely on often faulty memory of which characters were original canon and which weren't."

Reception

The characterization of King Louie has frequently been cited as an example of racial stereotyping in Disney films. However, in his 2004 book The Gospel According to Disney, Mark Pinsky asserts that a child in the current environment (as opposed to in the late 1960s) would not discern any racial dimension to the portrayal. Pinsky also relates Orlando Sentinel's film critic Jay Bogar's assertion that "the primates could be perceived as representing African Americans in a time of turmoil, but [that Bogar] saw no racism in the portrayal."